What's Standard? The 2 Opening and Responses ... - Better Bridge

With 8 high-card points and agood five-card suit, East makes apositive response of 2♥ over the 2♣bid. West shows the spade suit andEast raises. East doesn’t need tojump since the partnership is committedto at least game.Having found a fit, opener usesthe Blackwood convention to checkfor aces and then bids the slam.West knows partner will have agood heart suit for the positiveresponse, so there should be a wayto dispose of the diamond loser.Even if East didn’t hold the ♥Q,West could likely establish an extrawinner in the heart suit.Responder’s RebidMost of the time, the initialresponse to 2♣ is 2♦, an artificialwaiting bid. That leaves plenty ofroom for opener to bid a suit withan unbalanced hand, but nowresponder must bid again sinceopener’s rebid is forcing.At this point, responder needs away to show a very weak hand. Thisused to be done by bidding notrumpat the cheapest available level. Theproblem with that approach is thatresponder would then be declarer ifthe partnership played in a notrumpcontract and the strong hand wouldbe exposed as the dummy.To avoid this, it’s become popularto agree responder’s cheapest bid in aminor suit at the three level shows aweak hand—no ace, no king, andfewer than two queens. This issometimes referred to as “cheaperminor second negative.” That’s a bitof a misnomer since the initial 2♦response is waiting, not negative.There is no “cheapest minor”available at the three level whenopener rebids 3♦, so 3NT has to beused as the weak bid. That avoidsgetting the partnership beyond 3NT incase that’s the last makeable contract.It’s a slight flaw in this approach,but something that most players arewilling to go along with to avoidmore complex methods. The chartat the top of the next column showsall the negative rebids.BETTERVOL. 9, NO. 6B BRESPONDER’S NEGATIVE REBIDAfter responder has made a 2♦waiting response, the underlinedrebid by responder is artificial,showing a very weak hand:WESTOPENER2♣2♥OPENER♠ K 2 ♠ 6 4 3♥ AK ♥ J 7 5 3♦ K 3 ♦ 8 7 4♣ A K Q 9 7 4 2 ♣ 10 6 5WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH2♣ Pass 2♦ Pass3♣ Pass 3♦ Pass3NT Pass Pass PassAfter the artificial 2♣ opening bidand the artificial 2♦ waitingresponse, West’s 3♣ rebid is the firstnatural bid, showing clubs. It’sforcing, so East has to bid again.With a weak hand, East bids thecheapest available minor at the threelevel, 3♦, another artificial bid. Thatallows West to bid 3NT from thebest side since both the ♠K and ♦Kare protected. Whatever North leads,West has at least nine tricks.WEST2♣2♠OPENER2♣3♣OPENER2♣3♦WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH2♣ Pass 2♦ Pass2♠ Pass 3♥ Pass4♥ Pass Pass PassWest opens 2♣ and East doesn’thave enough strength or a goodenough suit for a positive response.So East makes the waiting responseof 2♦. West now shows the spadesuit and East can show the heart suit.15RESPONDER2♦3♣RESPONDER2♦3♣RESPONDER2♦3♦RESPONDER2♦3NTEASTEAST♠ A K Q 9 8 2 ♠ 4♥ A 10 3 ♥ Q J 7 5 2♦ Q 2 ♦ 7 6 3♣ AK ♣ Q 9 5 2BRIDGEJULY/AUGUST 2005West knows East has at least a fivecardheart suit and some valuessince East didn’t make the negativerebid of 3♣. West can raise to game.West knows slam is unlikely sinceEast didn’t make an initial positiveresponse in hearts. The partnershiplands in the best contract.Opener’s Third BidAfter opener’s rebid in a suit, thepartnership is committed to gameunless responder makes a negativerebid. Even if responder makes anegative rebid, any new suit byopener below game is forcing. Theonly time responder can pass belowgame after making a negative rebidis if opener rebids the same suit.WESTEAST♠ A K J 10 8 4 ♠ 9 3♥ A K Q 4 ♥ 8 2♦ 4 ♦ 8 7 6 3 2♣ AQ ♣ 9 6 5 2WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH2♣ Pass 2♦ Pass2♠ Pass 3♣ Pass3♥ Pass 3♠ Pass4♠ Pass Pass PassAfter West shows the strong twobidin spades, East makes a negativerebid of 3♣. West’s 3♥ bid, a new suit,is forcing, so East gives preferenceto spades and West bids game. Evenopposite East’s terrible hand, 4♠ hasa good chance. West can trump aheart loser in dummy.WESTEAST♠ AKQ ♠ 9 6 4 2♥ A K 10 9 7 6 ♥ 5 2♦ KQ ♦ 9 7 4 3♣ 8 3 ♣ J 7 6WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH2♣ Pass 2♦ Pass2♥ Pass 3♣ Pass3♥ Pass Pass PassEast makes the waiting responseof 2♦ and West bids 2♥, forcing.East makes the artificial negativerebid of 3♣ and West, with a minimum2♣ opening, simply rebids themajor suit. With no semblance ofhelp, East settles for partscore.❧ ❧ ❧ ❧ ❧In the next issue, we’ll look atanother option for responder andmore sample auctions after 2♣.